Their “mountain dew” was such a hit among friends and family, the Hartmans decided to go public. One employee joked it was as good as “mountain dew” because, when mixed with liquor, it tasted like a fine moonshine.Īs time went by, it would be that joke of a name, not the drink’s flavor, that would last. The Hartmans’ Personal Setup was clear with a lemon-lime flavor like 7Up or today’s Sprite. Selling for a nickel, Licht’s flavors included Grape Dew, Strawberry Dew and a “sparkling white pure lemon” Mountain Dew. Twenty years before, Hungarian immigrant Max Licht briefly bottled “Dew” drinks in eight-ounce bottles shaped like barrels. They weren’t the first in Knoxville to make a carbonated dew. The brothers occasionally bottled a few dozen cases of “Personal Setup” for themselves, employees and friends. They asked Tip Corporation’s master flavor mixer William Henry “Billy” Jones of Marion, Virginia to formulate the right concentrate for the non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage. In the 1940s, the Hartmans set out to make their own version, mostly to mix with liquor. As beer and Pepsi sold well, they dropped Orange-Crush and became the Hartman Beverage Company.īut one of their favorites - Natural Setup - wasn’t sold in Knoxville. They sold beer the minute Prohibition ended in 1933 and began selling Pepsi in 1934. Smart businessmen who’d seen one plant fail, they diversified. When the Orange-Crush plant went bankrupt in 1932, the Hartmans moved to Knoxville to help operate a plant at 1921 Magnolia Ave. Natural Setup advertised itself as “delicious, sparkling, healthful” though its label included a pair of dice. The sons of German immigrants, they enjoyed an after-work drink of Old Taylor Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey mixed with the highly carbonated lemon-lime soft drink Natural Setup. The Hartmans managed an Orange-Crush bottling plant in Augusta, Georgia, shortly after World War I. Mountain Dew started because Knoxville brothers Barney and Ally (pronounced Ollie) Hartman needed the right mixer for their whiskey. “But I also think they (Mountain Dew owners) have been very smart to shift their marketing at the right times.” “I think there is certainly something addictive to it, right?” Adam Alfrey, the East Tennessee History Center’s operations manager and senior curator, said about the drink’s popularity. “It’ll Tickle Yore Innards!”: A (Hillbilly) History of Mountain Dew” runs through Jan. Gay St., traces Mountain Dew’s regional roots and cultural connections. Industry statistics show it’s the third most popular “liquid refreshment brand” behind Coca-Cola and its PepsiCo parent’s Pepsi.Ī new exhibit at the Museum of East Tennessee History, 601 S. Today Mountain Dew is marketed as a high-energy, high-performing beverage favored by, among others, extreme-sports athletes and race car drivers.īut whatever its image – from barefoot mountaineers to adventuresome snowboarders - Mountain Dew sells. Turning a Knoxville whiskey mixer into a soft drink to “tickle yore innards” took mixology magic, business savvy and a marketing campaign filled with gun-toting, jug-swigging barefoot Appalachian hillbillies. Years later, when Mountain Dew began tasting like today’s Mountain Dew, it was first called lemonade and sold in a clear bottle. As clear as the moonshine whose moniker it borrowed, this Dew tasted like today’s 7Up or Sprite. That 1940s-styled Mountain Dew didn’t taste like today’s lemonade-citrus, caffeine- and sugar-charged drink. Mountain Dew - now the country’s third most popular soft drink - began because two Knoxville brothers needed a tasty mixer for their bourbon. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |